(i) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a transfer roller, a process cartridge, and an image forming apparatus.
(ii) Related Art
In an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system, charge is formed on the surface of an image holding member such as a photoconductor or the like by using a charging device, and an electrostatic latent image is formed by a laser beam modulated based on an image signal and is then developed with a charged toner to form a visualized toner image which is then transferred to a recording medium directly or through an intermediate transfer body.
For example, in the case of an intermediate transfer system, a toner image formed on the surface of an image holding member is electrostatically first transferred to the surface (outer peripheral surface) of an intermediate transfer belt, then electrostatically second transferred to a recording medium such as recording paper or the like, and fixed to the recording medium by heating and pressing in a fixing device.
Various conductive rollers are developed as a transfer roller that transfers a toner image on an image holding member to the recording medium or to the intermediate transfer belt, or a transfer roller that transfers the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt to the recording medium.